applied behavior analysis (ABA) - answerThe science in which tactics derived from the principles of behavior are applied to improve socially significant
... [Show More] behavior and experimentation is used to identify the variables responsible for the improvement in behavior.
behaviorism - answerThe philosophy of a science of behavior; there are various forms of behaviorism. (See methodological behaviorism, radical behaviorism.)
determinism - answerThe assumption that the universe is a lawful and orderly place in which phenomena occur in relation to other events and not in a willy-nilly, accidental fashion.
empiricism - answerThe objective observation of the phenomena of interest; objective observations are "independent of the individual prejudices, tastes, and private opinions of the scientist.
. . . Results of empirical methods are objective in that they are open to anyone's observation and do not depend on the subjective belief of the individual scientist" (Zuriff, 1985, p. 9).
experiment - answerA carefully controlled comparison of some measure of the phenomenon of interest (the dependent variable) under two or more different conditions in which only one factor at a time (the independent variable) differs from one condition to another.
experimental analysis of behavior (EAB) - answerA natural science approach to the study of behavior as a subject matter in its own right founded by B. F. Skinner; methodological features include rate of response as a basic dependent variable, repeated or continuous measurement of clearly defined response classes, within-subject experimental comparisons instead of group design, visual analysis of graphed data instead of statistical inference, and an emphasis on describing functional relations between behavior and controlling variables in the environment over formal theory testing.
explanatory fiction - answerA fictitious or hypothetical variable that often takes the form of another name for the observed phenomenon it claims to explain and contributes nothing to a functional account or understanding of the phenomenon, such as "intelligence" or "cognitive awareness" as explanations for why an organism pushes the lever when the light is on and food is available but [Show Less]